Ser,om On the Net

WOE

 

Matthew 23: This chapter deals with the seven woes pronounced by Jesus upon the Jewish nation along with some other very interesting aspects for Christians. In the beginning Jesus instructs the disciples to listen to the teachers of the law but to not do what they practice, for they place heavy loads on people but they themselves don’t bother to practice what they preach. Jesus further tells them not to call anyone Rabbi (which means teacher) because they (the disciples) have only one teacher, one Master, the Christ. The teachers of the law wanted to be known as Rabbi’s, in fact every thing they did was to feed their own ego; verses 8-9 say: “But you are not to be called Rabbi, for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.” Jesus also tells them that the greatest among them will be their servant.

 

Now Jesus mentions the seven woes to the crowd. The seven woes deal with the insincerity and double standards of the teachers of the law and the priests. They say one thing and do another, and place demands on the people. The last woe deals with the teachers and priests and bears elaboration; they say they would not have done what their forefathers did to the prophets of old (shedding their blood). Jesus chastises them for their false testimony telling them that He is going to send them teachers, wise men and prophets, and that they are going to torture them, kill them, crucify them and put them in prison. Lastly, Jesus explains how He would have been overjoyed with them if only they were truly looking to and obeying the true God of Israel.

 

This chapter stresses the hypocrisy of the Jewish people and, unfortunately, it continues today and will until Jesus returns for His people. Another point that Jesus made very clear was for us to never refer to anyone on this earth as anything other than what they are   …a human being. We have, today, a myriad of titles in the religious and Christian communities. Jesus says (not me), “Do not call anyone father, rabbi or teacher.” I think His words are plain enough for anyone to understand. Personally I have always had a problem with any kind of religious or Christian title and I will obey Jesus and not men. I don’t know of any place in the New Testament of references to people by title. Enough said.

 

 

 

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THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT

Matthew 22: Jesus continues using parables to communicate to the crowd. This one is about the wedding guests who refused to attend the ceremony. When the king who had prepared a banquet for chosen wedding guests discovered this, he sent his servants out into the streets to find anyone who would like to attend. The custom in those days was for the guests to be supplied with wedding clothes. When a particular invitee was found not wearing wedding clothing the king ordered him to be cast out where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The point here is that many are called but few are chosen; Verse 14: “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

 

The Pharisees once again tried to trick Jesus about paying taxes to Caesar, Jesus told them to pay him what is due him and to pay to God what is His; verse 21: “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” They asked him about marriage in Heaven and Jesus told them that there would be no such thing, but the people would be as angels. His answer to the resurrection was that He is not the God of the dead, but rather of the living; verse 32. “For I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” This is a very interesting statement by Jesus.

 

Then they asked Him which of the commandments was the greatest: His answer in verses 37-40 was to “love the Lord your God with all their heart and your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”                       

 

Jesus then quizzed them as to the identity of the Christ and pointed out to them that He was not the son of David as they ignorantly thought. They stopped asking questions of Him from that day on.

 

Two things impress me vividly in this chapter with regard to the two greatest commandments, When He said, “all the law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” He was informing us we are no longer bound by the law, quite the contrary, if we want to use the word, bound, then we can say we are bound by the grace of God; “for by grace are you saved and not the law.” The second point is the word ‘chosen.’ Some might think that God chooses  people to be saved and they have no say in the matter. Not so, because people must accept what God has offered, it is a gift. We should not allow ourselves to be trapped by arguing this point, because the issue is whether or not you have a relationship with the LORD GOD through Jesus Christ. How do you know if you have? Well, if you have not already accepted Jesus as your personal Savior to establish this relationship, I prayerfully urge you to take the time and ask Jesus into your heart as your personal Savior. Then you will be joyfully surprised. 

 

 

Sermon On the Net

THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY

 

Matthew 21: This chapter begins with the prophesied entry of Jesus riding on a colt into Jerusalem. The prophecy is found in Zechariah 9:9 which says: “See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Jesus told them to go into the village and they would find a donkey and her colt; they were to take them to Him. The disciples went into the village to find the owner of the colt and he gave it to them, without question. They placed their robes on the colt while people laid branches on the roadway and began shouting praises to Jesus as He entered the town riding on the colt. 

 

Jesus entered the Temple and found the people using it as a place to sell goods. He became incensed at their disrespect of the Temple and began to overturn tables and threw them out, which was a fulfillment of prophecy found in Jeremiah 7:11: “Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching declares the LORD.” The Temple was a house of prayer at that time, however that changed after Jesus was crucified.

 

The blind and the lame came to Him and He healed them. The chief priests and teachers became indignant because of the healings and were trying to find ways to arrest Him, but they feared the crowd. Jesus left the area and went to Bethany.

 

Early the next morning while He was on His way back to the city He came across a fig tree that was not bearing fruit. He cursed the tree because of this and the tree withered away. The disciples were amazed at this event and Jesus told them that if they had enough faith they could move mountains. Jesus told them that if they believe they would receive everything they asked for in prayer.

 

While Jesus was teaching the people in the Temple courtyard the chief priests came to Him and questioned His authority. He knew their hearts and fired back a question as to what authority John the Baptist performed his works. Jesus knew that if they said God, He would ask them why they didn’t believe him, and if they believed from a man, then they feared the people would become agitated because they believed John was a prophet. They said they didn’t know and Jesus said He wouldn’t answer them either.

Jesus used a parable of two sons’, one was willing to work in his vineyard, and the other would not. He was trying to tell the crowd that they were not doing the will of the Father, therefore the tax collectors and prostitutes would get into Heaven before them.  John came to show the people the way of righteousness and they didn’t believe him, but they (the tax collectors and prostitutes) did.

 

Jesus used another parable of the tenants to show the results of the Jewish people refusing to believe who Jesus was. Their inheritance (Heaven) would be taken from them and given to the Gentiles. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Him they knew He was talking about them and they tried to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the people’s reaction.

There is an abundance of discussion in this chapter about the refusal of the acceptance of Jesus by the Jews and as a result of this their inheritance was taken away and given to the Gentiles. That means us, folks and includes anyone (Jews included) who accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. If you, the reader of this letter, have not made this decision yet I urge you, yes, prayerfully urge you to ask Jesus to forgive your sins and come into you heart. Indeed, as the movie goes, It’s A Wonderful Life.